diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/sword/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/sword/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..07634ce09f33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/sword/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+{stdenv, fetchurl, pkgconfig, icu, cluceneCore, curl}:
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+
+  version = "1.6.2";
+
+  name = "sword-${version}";
+
+  src = fetchurl {
+    url = "http://www.crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/source/v1.6/${name}.tar.gz";
+    sha256 = "1fc71avaxkhx6kckjiflw6j02lpg569b9bzaksq49i1m87awfxmg";
+  };
+
+  buildInputs = [ pkgconfig icu cluceneCore curl ];
+
+  prePatch = ''
+    patchShebangs .;
+  '';
+
+  configureFlags = "--without-conf --enable-debug";
+
+  meta = {
+    description = "A software framework that allows research manipulation of Biblical texts";
+    homepage = http://www.crosswire.org/sword/;
+    platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
+    license = "GPLv2";
+  };
+
+}
+
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 6b6bc2b0ae16..d90cad034f30 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -3841,6 +3841,8 @@ let
 
   suitesparse = callPackage ../development/libraries/suitesparse { };
 
+  sword = callPackage ../development/libraries/sword { };
+
   t1lib = callPackage ../development/libraries/t1lib { };
 
   taglib = callPackage ../development/libraries/taglib { };